Link-Up Love: The Results Are In

So last week I asked y’all to let me know what link-ups you host and what link-ups you participate in that are your favorites.

And you came through.

So thank you!

I’ve compiled a list from your comments with the corresponding days of the weeks, let you know some notes in parenthesis, linked to the blogs that host, and tried to give you a little detail as to what it’s about (I know when I hear of a link-up I want to know what it actually is). Hopefully this makes it easier on everyone to follow and find new blogs and link-ups.

Comment below on this post to let me know if you think of any more. Send people this way if they want me to add theirs to the list. I will keep it on a tab at the top of my blog for y’all to continue returning to! So here’s what we got…

Monday

Weekending – B Loved Boston – What’d you do this weekend?
Let’s Talk (Last Monday of every month) – A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals – Talk about the different topics each month.

Tuesday

Show and Tell Tuesday – Momfessionals – “Show and tell” with the prompt.
Tuesday Talk – Grammie Time – Blog about anything.
Talk About It Tuesday – Crown Me In Glitter, Stang&Co. – Blog about anything.
Delicious Dish Tuesday – Eat Drink & Be Mary – Share your recipes every week.
Sweat It Out (First Tuesday of every month) – Chasing Texas – Health and Fitness link-up.
Tuesday Fashion Party Link-Up – Two Peas in a Blog – Share your fashion posts for the week.

Wednesday

Bookworm Wednesday (First Wednesday of every month) – Colors of Life, Better Off Benedict – Share your reads for the month.
What’s Up Wednesday (Last Wednesday of every month) – Mix and Match Mama, The Larson Lingo, Sheaffer Told Me To – Follow the prompt of questions to share what’s up.
Welcome Home Wednesday – J for Joiner – Whatever you want.
What I Wore Wednesday – The Pleated Poppy – Share your fashion posts.
What’s Hap-pinning Wednesday – Jessi’s Design, Going The Distance – Share what’s going on and your favorite pins.

Thursday

Party at My Place – Grammie Time – Whatever you like.
Thankful Thursday – Knit By God’s Hand – Share what you’re thankful for from the week.
Thoughts For Thursday – Home of Malones – Share your thoughts.
Confessional Thursday – Lynn – What are your confessions?
Special Needs Link-Up – Hannah – Talk about special needs, chronic illness, etc.

Friday

Friday Favorites – Momfessionals, A Little Bit of Everything, Grace and Love Blog – Share your favorite things from the week.

Once a month…

Stranded – A Little Bit of Everything, Mix and Match Mama – What 3 items you would take with you on a deserted island and date of link-up.
Literary Ladies Book Club – See You In A Porridge – Everyone reads the same book and you chat about it.
101 in 1001 – To Travel and Beyond – A bucket list with a certain time to complete and you share progress every couple months.
Spiel The Beans – Queen In Between – Follow the prompt.
Share The Love Saturday – Hannah – Link-up with your social media every Saturday.

Link-Up Love

Today’s post is pretty easy. As a blogger, one of my favorite things to participate in are link-ups.

• I love that you can grow your blog, meet other bloggers, and get other opinions on the same subject.
• I love that you can have a topic, yet because we are all so different each topic can be interpreted in different ways…like Andrea’s Show and Tell: Personal Style from the other week. I bet if you go through all the links they will all be completely different.
• I love that we are also able to share what blogs we follow and enjoy reading.

Some of my favorite link-ups right now are…

Bookworm Wednesday with Colors of Life and Better Off Benedict 😉
Show and Tell Tuesday with Momfessionals
Friday Favorites with Momfessionals, A Little Bit of Everything, Grace and Love
What’s Up Wednesday with Mix and Match Mama, The Larson Lingo, Sheaffer Told Me To

Now…let’s share some link-up love!

Do you host a link-up? or What are your favorite link-ups that you participate in? 

My goal is to get as many people as possible to share link-ups they host or participate in and then next week I will put together a list of link-ups for the corresponding days of the week. I am always looking (and so are many of you) for some new link-ups to continue growing my blog and meeting others. Share, share, share!!

Stranded: Books

Hi! It’s been crazy around here. We’ve been packing boxes and running errands and all sorts of things these past two weeks so my blogging as been sporadic. I’m hoping to get back on track soon…hang with me!!!

Today I’m participating in Shay and Erika‘s stranded link-up and we’re talking books.

What 3 books would I take off my bookshelf if I was stranded on an island?? Ugh, this is hard. I don’t know if I would want to read or if I would be too pre-occupied and anxious to read. You know what i’m saying?!

The first book that I would try to make sure that I had was some sort of guide for surviving on a deserted island. You know, ’cause i’m all practical and stuff 😉

I’d get this book so I could figure out WHAT THE HECK TO DO. It looks helpful and probably would be a good read as a just in case. In this guide you’re suppose to figure out how to signal for help, get drinkable water, and catch food. I’ll need all the help I can get!

If I was stranded on an island I would want a funny book, you know to entertain me and also keep me sane.

So i’d pick Bossypants by Tina Fey because…
-SO MANY OF YOU recommended it and really loved the book
-I haven’t read it before, which I’d love because I don’t read books more than once
-It’s also an autobiography which is my favorite!
-It was rated on buzz feed’s most funny books

Win, win!

And the third thing I would take with me is a series. You know, have a long drawn out series to read to keep me occupied while I am waiting on someone to come rescue me. That’s a good idea, right?!

I’m normally not into all the mystical creatures and made up stuff with vampires and witches, but Morgan LOVED the Twilight series along with just about everyone else. I’ve seen the movies (and liked them) but I haven’t read the books. Do you suggest I take this series or would I have a better series to read while I’m stranded??

YAY FOR READING!!! Except I probably wouldn’t be this happy and I wouldn’t have a school book with me. Haha!

So what do you think? Would you keep it practical or would you just take your favorites? I’m really hoping I would never be in that situation!

Ps…to see my reads for 2016 click here! And in case you’re looking for other great options, check out a link-up I host on the first Wednesday of every month (don’t worry it doesn’t interfere with this one) called Bookworm Wednesday!!!

Show and Tell: Your First Job

Oh, this is going to be a fun blog topic to go through and read of everyone’s.

Because today we’re showing and telling each other about our first job.

Now i’m a January birthday, so I didn’t turn 16 until the spring of my sophomore year of high school. It wasn’t long after that when I got my first job. You see, i’m one of those insane, weird people that likes to work. I like putting in my time, feeling like i’m helping out, and then reaping the benefits (aka that paycheck every 2 weeks). So when I turned 16, I didn’t mind getting a job. I started applying all over. I went to business after business filling out and turning in applications. And I never heard back from any of them. This actually went on for months.

Then one day after school my best friend Emily ^^ was talking about how she heard of this place called Babe’s Chicken Dinner House…where so many people were applying and she asked me if I wanted to go fill out an application with her, so I said sure. What did I have to lose right??? Well, that manager took our application and told us to come back the next Tuesday for an interview. We both walked in, interviewed separately, and walked out with orientation starting on Saturday morning. And that’s how it all began.

I think about it now and laugh because we were both SO NERVOUS for the job. I slept over at her house the night before our first day and we had stomach aches we were so nervous. And looking back, we were hired as hostesses. All we did was walked people to their table. There was nothing to be nervous about at all!

Fun fact: I came home the day I got the job and told my parents I was working at Babes because that’s what we call it around here…and they were so freaked out because they didn’t know what it was so they thought it was a Hooters type place. No. We wear black jeans, black t-shirts, and those gigantic black clog no-slip shoes. Nothing seductive about that. Hahaha!

 

Guys never applied to work at our restaurant, so it was all girls there. I really wasn’t a fan of that majority of the time to be honest because we always had the typical drama. Girls would yell at each other because one was totally flirting with the other one’s boyfriend. Lyke totes oh em gee. I witnessed it one time and it was awkward. Despite that, it really was the easiest job known to man. Our menu is 6 items. You bet your bottom dollar I stayed there from spring of my sophomore year of high school until this past December when I got my big girl job.

If I would have quit the many times I wanted to I wouldn’t have met the cool people I did who just so happen to be some of my really good friends. Like, Emily J and Maddie.

And Carli of course. Friends are fun when you get off your shift at 10:00 at night and proceed to take selfies on a camera timer in the parking lot. Because that makes all the sense in the world when you’re teenage girls.

And I found friends to carpool with to Tuesday night Church last summer as well. Carli, Emily J, and Paige.

Like I said, there were times I hated that job. But it was so easy and a very quick way to earn some cash when I moved up to become a waitress my senior year of high school. I made really good money in a given night, although i’d occasionally deal with the rude people. But such is life in the restaurant industry.

Not to mention I was able to take some rad selfies. I took this one when #alexfromTarget was popular if any of you remember that?? That was the Target in my town actually. Hahah memories. I was #mollyfrombabes

Despite the tables we’d have to buss on busy nights, coming home with sore feet, an aching back, and feeling like I was 66 instead of 16…i’m glad I worked there. It taught me a lot about working hard, dealing with people/customer service, and dealing with coworkers as well.

You tell ’em, Cinderelly!!

Just in case you missed any of my previous Show and Tell Tuesday posts:

The 5 people you’d invite to dinner
Where I was on 9/11
Who I was in High School
My Back to School Traditions
My Home
My Beauty Routine
My Yard
When I Grow Up
Favorite Party I’ve Hosted
How I Got My Name
My Favorite Vacation
My Favorite Room In Our House
How (2 of my favorite couples) Met Each Other
My Groundhog Day
My Organization Tips and Tricks
My New Year’s Resolutions

Oh yeah, and don’t forget tomorrow is Bookworm Wednesday. Come link up and share what you read this month!

Favorite Things Party: Favorite Scarves

From September to May, a scarf is my style staple. And apparently a good cup of coffee if you’re judging it by these pictures 😉 I know….May is pushing it, but I can’t help it. I love a good scarf. It’s like my safety blanket or something.

This white one. AHHHH! You need one just like this one, for the obvious reason of it goes with everything you could imagine. My exact one is from seasons and seasons ago, but I found a close second that’s just another kind of knit and on some serious sale!

I love a good, fun multi-colored scarf for a pop of color. And I got this one so long ago (are you seeing a trent already??) i’m not even sure where it’s from!

And I mean, this wouldn’t be a post of mine without a leopard scarf featured.

…I try one on in just about every store I go to.

This leopard one is first of all: $5.24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Steal! But also, it is so light-weight. And perfect because it is so me. But also, look at how much it goes with?! I have it on with a different colr in every single picture.

This blue fringe scarf has sure gotten it’s use too. I would have never thought that navy blue would go with as much as it does, but I find myself reaching for this scarf in my closet quite often.

This yellow one is my favorite one though. Just because it’s yellow, bright, striped, and fun.

And last but not least, this scarf was one I picked out this summer and absolutely LOVE it on. It is so perfect. Ugh, and ANOTHER STEAL y’all can get one for yourself for $5.24. I was ripped off 😉

So what have we all learned today? Pretty much all of my scarves come from Target. Click here to shop all of their options. PS if you can’t tell some are going for $5.24 so you might need to check that out! And you already know that if it’s not from Target, it’s probably from Taralynn’s! I like what I like 🙂

Now tell me which scarves are your FAVORITE for this season!!

**PS this post contains affiliate links. Clicking on links may result in a small compensation for me. As always, thank you all for reading and supporting my blog…xoxo**

Show and Tell: Who’s coming to dinner?

Today’s Show and Tell Tuesday with Andrea is all about what 5 people we would invite to dinner at our house.

I mean, if I was really choosing…it would be these 5 people right here without question. No brainer.

But because that’s way too easy, I decided to think a little harder and come up with 5 others. So I decided on:

My Dad’s Dad

My grandpa died when I was just months old so I never got to meet him. I always tell my mom that I wish there wasn’t a such thing as grandparents dying before you were born. I’d love to have the opportunity to meet my grandparents…which leads me to my next guest.

My Mom’s Mom

That’s my mom and me…she could come too if she wanted, haha. For the same reasons as my grandpa I would invite my other grandma to dinner. I was a little older when she passed away, but I still don’t remember her either. Heck i’d invite all my grandparents for that matter! Can I cheat and choose more than 5?

And If i’m already have those family members over, I would have to invite my cousin over to dinner.

Kate Middleton

We would need the opportunity to catch up, ya know? We don’t always get to see each other so i’d definitely choose to spend some more time with her.

Fourth, i’d invite…

Taylor Swift

Look, T-Swift is the girl. How many people her age are still down-to-Earth with all their fame? I don’t know…not Miley, not Bieber, just to name a few. I think she has done awesome for herself and i’ve yet to hear of a single bad thing she’s done. I wish every celebrity was like homegirl here.

And finally,

Uncle Jesse

Not John Stamos…Uncle Jesse. For one, because i’m watching Full House right now and i’m way too tired to think. But also because Uncle Jesse was my long time crush for years and years when i’d come home from elementary school and turn on Full House right away. I feel like I grew up with him as my uncle except that he really didn’t know that I existed. It’s fine. I’m fine. I like the uncles I have anyways!

So there ya go, I have the most random assortment of dinner guests coming over, but we could all probably learn something from one another right? It’ll be great 😉

Just in case you missed any of my previous Show and Tell Tuesday posts:

Where I was on 9/11
Who I was in High School
My Back to School Traditions
My Home
My Beauty Routine
My Yard
When I Grow Up
Favorite Party I’ve Hosted
How I Got My Name
My Favorite Vacation
My Favorite Room In Our House
How (2 of my favorite couples) Met Each Other
My Groundhog Day
My Organization Tips and Tricks
My New Year’s Resolutions

It’s just another day of classes for me today. Let’s do this, Tuesday!

Show and Tell: Where you were on 9/11

Happy September!!!! I just love this month. Because

And September is the first Fall month of the year. I mean, i’ve always loved Fall, ever since I was a young tot. Fall was when we’d make our annual trips to Boston, Fall was when this cold weather loving girl wasn’t miserably drenched in sweat every day, Fall is football, Fall was volleyball season and Fall means Holidays. Holidays on holidays. I love Fall. Therefore I love September 1st.

But today we aren’t talking about September 1st, we’re talking about September 11th.

I’m so fascinated by the fact that we can remember events from the past like it was just the other day when at the time it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Does that even make sense to anyone else besides me?

I was only in second grade on 09/11/2001. Parts of this day are familiar and parts I really don’t remember. In fact, September 11th is my grandpa’s birthday and I didn’t even know it back then. I mean what second grader knows her grandparents birthday? My parents’ birthdays were stretching it. Please don’t comment below and make me feel bad about myself saying that you did!!!! *embarrassed face*

I remember it being really early in the school day and I don’t know if an announcement came on over the loudspeaker or if someone heard on the radio but the school felt like it got instantly quiet. Teachers were quiet but still trying to act normal for the little ones, and as a little kid you could just feel something was in the air…

Little did I know, there was…literally. A lot of kids were taken out of school that morning, but my parents left me in school (UGH) 😉 and then later that afternoon I was riding the bus and right before I got off at my stop I remember our bus driver saying “Try to stay inside today kids, the sky isn’t so nice.” I was so confused what that meant! I was walking around outside (because i’ve never been a good listener) looking up at the sky thinking dirt was going to be flying around everywhere still confused by what she meant. I asked my mom what our bus driver could have been talking about and she made up some story that wasn’t actually real…obviously, since I don’t remember. I’m going to guess that this is probably what she was really talking about.

All I have to say to that is ignorance is bliss my friends. Now i’m grown up and I actually know what this stuff is and it’s scary knowing how many bad people there are in the world. I want to go back to the days of not knowing anything!! 09/11/2001 was weird and confusing for a second grader, but heartbreaking for many others. A couple years ago I found out that my neighbor’s sister was on one of the planes that crashed into the towers. And I heard the voicemail she left her husband. CHILLS. INSTANT CHILLS. 14 years later and my heart still aches for those families who lost loved ones that day. I can’t even imagine.

However, through all the sadness that 9/11 brings i’ll always be happy that 94 (almost 95) years ago my best pal was born. T-minus a week and a half ’til we celebrate him again!

Just in case you missed any of my previous Show and Tell Tuesday posts:

Who I was in High School
My Back to School Traditions
My Home
My Beauty Routine
My Yard
When I Grow Up
Favorite Party I’ve Hosted
How I Got My Name
My Favorite Vacation
My Favorite Room In Our House
How (2 of my favorite couples) Met Each Other
My Groundhog Day
My Organization Tips and Tricks
My New Year’s Resolutions

ALSO…..DON’T FORGET!!!!!!!!!!

Katie and I’s first monthly Book Worm Wednesday is going down tomorrow. Be here or be squared. 🙂

Own It

It’s Own It Thursday with Christina!! One more day of the work week and I can sleep in as late as I want to. YES. Also, can you believe it’s almost September??

ONE

When i’m at school sometimes i’ll put my headphones in before class so I don’t have to talk to classmates, but I don’t actually have the music on. Actually…that’s been more than just at school (and I usually don’t have a smile like this on my face) *embarrassed face*

TWO

I used to not brush my teeth in the morning. Before you get disgusted just think about…if i’m going to eat right after I wake up in the morning why would I ruin the taste of my food by brushing my teeth? And then after I ate I forgot that my breath was stinky so I just got dressed and went to school. Also…I just brushed them less than 12 hours before. But don’t disown me because I did say used to and now i’m a lot less stupid. And more hygienic.

THREE

I can’t fall asleep before 11. It just won’t happen. In fact i’m still writing my post and it’s 11:30. I probably look like this picture below because that was one night around 3/4 that I couldn’t fall asleep. I can be in bed watching Netflix but my body won’t get tired until after 11. It’s weird and I JUST WANT TO SLEEP!

FOUR

I get way too excited over vegetables and fruits. My mom thinks it’s weird. She hates anything remotely healthy and so when I got excited in Bed, Bath, and Beyond about my veggetti to make zoodles she was embarrassed. Fruits and veggies are about the only foods that I can eat an excessive quantity of and not feel sick, so of course i’m going to love them. I mean I get so excited over broccoli for dinner (so much so that sometimes that’s the only thing I order at restaurants). Or i’ll make it for dinner and my family opts for pizza instead (rude, i’m making you food!). Give me all the veggies and fruits.

FIVE

I love love love the soft spots on babies’ heads. You know, their cute little hair is growing in and they have that indention at the top of their heat. I just like to pet them like they’re a dog. Tommy didn’t have one when we visited him – i’m not exactly sure when they grow out of them…or even what they do to be honest. But he’s still cute!!!

I want to be sure to spread all of my “owning it” out since it’s a monthly link-up. And i’m exhausted. Ugh, adult life 😉

Hope you have a great day!

In case you’ve missed me owning it before:

Own It (Month 1) – Think baby food.
Own It (Month 2) – Think 0 prescription glasses.

Show and Tell: Who You Were in High School

Hey there! It’s Tuesday (in case you didn’t know!) and that means it’s another edition of Show and Tell. This time…

Who We Were in High School

To be completely honest…I LOVED high school. Most of you will probably disagree with me here, but i’d take high school over college every day most days.

So who was I in high school? I was..

…the Homecoming Queen

….and the Prom Queen.

Haha just kidding I was never even imagined to be either of those. But I was besties with Jonathan (since 6th or 7th grade). He came to my senior homecoming and I went to his senior prom.

I was the one with the bad acne. My mom would take progress pictures (that’s why I have this) and it was a lot worse than this. I was even on acutane at this point.

I had SUPER long hair. I donated it to Locks of Love. Oh and i’ve always had bad lower back problems, so I would wear a heating pad on my back when i’d come home for lunch. I’m totally dorky in this picture.

I dated the same guy from the summer after my freshman year to the fall of my senior year. LOOK HOW BABY ME AND EMILY WERE!

And after Emily and I met, we were best friends (and still are) from then on forward. This is the first picture I remember of us, so that’s why I always post it 🙂

2009

2015

I worked 2 jobs in high school. I was a waitress at the same restaurant for about 5 years.

And I was a nanny.

And I really enjoyed both of them. They were the perfect high school jobs.

I volunteered a lot. Along with National Honor Society, Student Council, National Technical Honor Society, and our schools blood drives, I was the VP of a program called PALS. We went to Elementary schools on Monday and Thursday mornings and mentored the kiddos for an hour or so. I still ask myself why I never went to school to be a teacher. I loved it.
Monday with my Kindergarteners —– Thursdays with my 2nd graders.

I was a “Diamond Darling” for our high school’s baseball team. The Diamond Darlings prepared goodie bags for the players before every game. They attended games and just tried to get the student body involved. One night I got a text from a friend on the team who asked if I wanted to be the manager for the team. ARE YOU KIDDING? I couldn’t turn that down. My senior year I got to sit in the dugout with the boys and listen to them cuss at bad plays, spit sunflower seeds, and pick on each other. If you know me at all, you know I was in Heaven. My love for baseball runs deep! This was my friend PJ who was a couple years younger than me and went to play in college. It’s cool now because my brothers are playing for the same coach who I sat in the dugout and kept score for.

I was super involved in my Church too. I co-taught 3rd and 4th grade boys with Reeana‘s dad on Wednesday nights. I went to youth group on Sunday nights. I went to camp with my youth group every Spring and Fall. And I went on a mission trip to New Orleans with a lot of the youth group. I have such great memories with these people.

Reeana and Mikaela were my besties from Church and we were super close to our youth pastor. This was us our spring semester of freshman year at college for a Church wedding.

Many Saturday mornings if I wasn’t at work, I went to my siblings sporting events and posted up with mom on the fence. Like a boss yo! ‘Cause believe it or not, I enjoyed doing that.

I went to McDonalds A LOT a lot A LOT. I remember always getting Whataburger, McDonald’s, and Sonic anytime we were hungry in high school. Oh, the days of fast metabolisms.

 

But my very favorite thing from high school was playing volleyball. Even though I was limited in what I could do, it was one sport I could actually play thanks to my 5’2 height. And I loved everything about it and still miss the sport today. Which is why i’m trying to get involved in golf, tennis, and running. Things I know I can do in years to come.

And finally in 2012 I graduated. For the first time I remember feeling like I accomplished something.

And that was me. Just a short, plain Jane, sports-loving dweeb. But then again, not much has changed 😉

Just in case you missed any of my previous Show and Tell Tuesday posts:

My Back to School Traditions
My Home
My Beauty Routine
My Yard
When I Grow Up
Favorite Party I’ve Hosted
How I Got My Name
My Favorite Vacation
My Favorite Room In Our House
How (2 of my favorite couples) Met Each Other
My Groundhog Day
My Organization Tips and Tricks
My New Year’s Resolutions

Books in July

Well well, it’s the 1st Wednesday of the month and therefore I have something cool planned for the rest of our 1st Wednesdays at the bottom of this post. But don’t you dare skip my review on these books, I know how you people operate!!!!

I have been a reading machine this month. My grandma would be so proud of me. When she would come down to visit us she always brought AT LEAST 3 books and had them done within the week and a half she was here. And her and I would read together before bed. She loved reading, and it’s starting to wear off on me in my older age 😉

So, here are the 4 books I read this July starting with my most recent:

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

I just finished this book on Saturday night. Yes, I spend my Saturday nights reading books. And no, I have no problem with it whatsoever. My mom actually started this book before me and didn’t like it, so I decided I would take it off of her hands and see what I thought. And I feel like i’m going against the odds here to say I didn’t like it at first. I couldn’t get into it, I couldn’t understand it, and I was confused why everyone raved about this book. I think it was around chapter 12 that I FINALLY got the hang of things (there’s 3 different people’s stories to follow) and really enjoyed it. This was a big ol’ book being 400 pages long. Was it my favorite read? Not really. Did I hate it? No. Maybe one of Liane Moriarty’s other books is good…so i’ll probably try another one. Any recommendations as to which one next?

The Vow by Kim and Krickitt Carpenter

The Vow was a super simple, super quick read. I picked it up at the store because I had seen the movie and didn’t know that it was based on true events. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the couple gets into a car accident where the wife loses all short term memory including the fact that she’s married and the husband tries to make her fall in love with him again. It’s sad but uplifting at the same time. They are a Christian couple and it talks a lot about their walk with God in the process. If you need a light, lovable read…The Vow. And watch the movie if you haven’t!

One Light Still Shines by Marie Monville

This book is written by the wife on the man who committed the Amish schoolhouse shooting. I really didn’t remember anything about that particular incident. It happened in 2006, I was in 6th grade and of course didn’t watch any kind of news. The only reason I ended up getting the book was because I felt like everywhere I looked I saw it. I’m so glad I read it. This is also a Christian book and talks about how she relied on God during this tragedy. If you’re an easy crier, you’ll probably cry ’cause I felt myself getting teary eyed at one part and i’m definitely not a crier. It’s worth a shot reading!

Let’s All Be Brave by Annie F. Downs

It feels like I read Annie’s book forever ago. I loved this one! She’s real and shares about different parts of her life that I know I can really relate to. There were many times I would read something and think “uh-huh” or “me too!”. Annie throws in Bible verses or Bible passages that relate to whichever topic that she is talking about in that chapter making it all the more meaningful. The main thing I think of in regards to this book is the word relatable. Especially when she mentions loving being at home and not wanting to leave her little bubble. Ugh, brave stuff is hard.

FUN NEWS!

I’m starting a new link-up for all of us book lovers/book readers to join in on! I’ve been wanting to host a link-up for about, eh forever now and Katie gave me the idea when she mentioned wanting to participate in a book review link-up…so it was the extra push for me.

(Just like today) Every 1st Wednesday of the month for the rest of this year i’ll be hosting “Book Worm Wednesday” on the blog. We’ll all talk about our favorite reads for that particular month and get ideas from each other on what to read next. So, mark your calendars for….

September 2
October 7
November 4
December 2

Use this graphic below and BOOK WORMS SHALL UNITE!!!! *Holds fist in air like superwoman*

Ps. I added the link-up button today in case any of you are reviewing books like me on this fine Wednesday! 🙂

Own It

G’Mornin’!!

It’s the second link-up of the owning it series. I love Christina and her blog and i’m more than excited to go through and read every own it. She guest posted over here a couple weeks ago and you should check that out if you haven’t already. I don’t know how she makes everything so fabulous, but she does!

 I am a night owl to a T. I get all my energy when everyone else goes to sleep. It’s so strange, but strangely I love it. It’s just me time and I don’t feel like i’m missing out on anything. And I just function better at night, like:

Okay. Hi, yes that’s me! Hence it being midnight and i’m just finishing this post up. NO I’M NOT A PROCRASTINATOR!

Confession: These glasses have 0 prescription in them. I’ve always thought the look of glasses is cute. I’m lucky enough to have 20/10 vision in my eyes and i’d never want to have real glasses. Yet, I like fake ones.

My bear likes them so that’s all that matters.
And yes I have a giant bear that sits on my bed.

I recently discovered I have a crooked smile. If you look you can see that my mouth on the left side of this picture is up higher.

PS I LOVE MIMOSAS. Do you think my boss would care if I brought one this morning? Yes? No? I probably shouldn’t? Fine.

^^that’s a pretty good one to show the crooked smile. Also, how pretty is my girly swirly Emily??

I have no shame in sitting alone.

At Oklahoma I would always eat lunch by myself while studying or reading. At Church, i’ll sit alone if my family doesn’t make it. Most people I know can’t go out in public alone, but I have no problem doing that at all!

Sometimes, I annoy myself.

To where I just want to give myself this face. I’ve told my mom this and she laughs and says that’s weird. But there will be certain times where i’m talking and i’m just thinking “Will you ever stop?????” I’ll get annoyed listening to my own voice. Now could you imagine what a day in the life of my mind would be like…I can’t 😉

My family has never had a dog before.

We’ve begged and begged and begged my parents, but i’m 21 years old and i’ve never had a pet. Sike, I take that back. I had a fish who I named George after Curious George (Oh! That’s another one! I LOVE CURIOUS GEORGE!!!!) but he died. And I just really think I need one. PLZ mail me donations and in the subject line put: “Molly needs a puppy fund.”

Greatly Appreciated.

Xs and Os.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve, oh sorry, I mean Thursday 😉
And check out my first “Own It” post.
And I owned a few things on Friday’s Likes and Dislikes.
And then once you’ve read both of those I will dismiss you to read other blogs.

Favorite Things Party: Red, White, and Blue

Man, the Monday back at work after vacation is the worst….is it time to go home and nap yet??? 😉 But then again, there’s no rest for the weary. We have things to do today!

Because today we are keeping the red, white and blue alive a little bit longer and sharing our favorites. So link up with Erika and Andrea and let’s get to it!

Boston Red Sox

The Sox are my favorite red, white, and blue to support. Back in May I took my super photogenic brothers and my dad to a Red Sox/Rangers game for their birthday presents and I got lucky and was able to meet Shay there with her dad, too. That recap is here if you missed it.

And you should check out my Boston trip recap with my dad right here for some more Red Sox love.

Taralynn’s

This should be a given of how much I love this little boutique. This entire outfit (minus the flag) is on her site. All you need to do is add a pop of red and you’ve got yourself a cute patriotic outfit! And with these clothes are…

…patriotic scarves like this one. And there’s more where that came from! My 30% (off everything) code will still work for you!!!! Use this code and these scarves will be $14 with free shipping!

Code: 0BZO4C4GZQHN

Starbucks Drinks

This is probably more pink than red, but one of my favorite Starbucks drinks was one my dad tried when we were in Boston. It’s a Passion Tea Lemonade and it’s good.

White Sandals

These white sandals from Target are still a favorite. Especially because they will go with EVERYTHING! These are out of stock.

But THIS is a very similar pair. White sandals (along with metallic sandals) are being named a “must have” for the season. Therefore, you MUST HAVE some a pair of either. Click here to shop that selection.

Strawberries

   

Are the best red colored snack.

Last minute SALE

This skirt that I mentioned on this post is now half off. That’s right it’s $24.99 with free shipping, but only for a couple more days. This is happening and you need to click on Taralynn’s site immediately and search for the Print Midi Skirt!!

Code: PRINTED

If you’re not about the polka dots…you’ve got so much more to choose from…

 

You won’t regret getting one of these skirts. They’re darling. And they come in Reds, Whites, or Blues. Perfect for today 🙂

Okay enough talk, let’s shop and get ahead for Red, White, and Blue themed events!!!!!! Happy Monday!

This post contains affiliate links, which just means clicking on a link may result in a small compensation for the blog author. As always, thank you all for reading and supporting my blog. XOXO

Show and Tell: Your Home

Today is another “Show and Tell Tuesday” with Andrea at Momfessionals. I cropped the picture so you could see what the rest of the year is going to look like. Go ahead and join in with us!!

Because i’m out of town right now and I don’t have the access to take pictures around my house, i’ll catch all of you up (new and old friends) on posts i’ve previously done around my house. It’ll be a semi-tour of our home. Some of these posts were done a while ago, so things might have changed (but you’ll get the picture) 😉

Home Organization

Closet Organization

Organization Tips and Tricks (Where I talked about my home)

Our Laundry Room

My Home Work-Space

Our Game Room

My Room

My Favorite Room In Our House

I think that pretty much covers all of my posts to date of our house. But my verrrryyy favorite place in my house is this…

…the balcony upstairs. I just “found it” ( I knew it was there, but I just now started using it) and I love that it’s kind of become my little space. And that’s it – plain and simple – my home 🙂

A Few Reminders:

– Taralynn’s contacted me last week to let me know she gave y’all 30% off with code:

0BZO4C4GZQHN

You know for this tank,

this skirt,

this outfit,

These bracelets,

And these hoodies!

Shop them all RIGHT HERE but before you check out don’t forget that you can get 30% off with our code and FREE SHIPPING!!!!

– This is the last day to comment below with any questions you have for me that you want answered. I’ll be posting them this week and i’d love to have a bunch of questions that you want answered!

Have a Happy Tuesday! XOXO

Show and Tell: My Beauty Routine

I really like this show and tell series that Andrea does. I feel like it’s easy enough that everyone can do it, but we all interpret it to our own meaning.

I’m nothing if not a woman of routine. I love a good routine.

^^^FOR REAL. However, I try to keep the beauty routine as simple as possible. Around here in Dallas many women spend hours a month at the tanning salon, the nail salon, the hair salon, etc. etc. And that works for some people, but it’s just not me. I put off getting my hair cut as long as I can. For my beauty routine today, I feel like I need to go in order of my day. So, this is it.

6:15am

I usually wake up and look like this…I mean People magazine should go ahead and call me to be on the front cover. #AMIRIGHT?! World’s hottest female? Or whatever one of those awards is.

 

6:35am

I’m having to (yes, having not getting to) put on make-up. One of the things I dislike most is putting on make-up early in the morning. Most of the time i’m not even awake yet and my face doesn’t want to be put on. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do because #adultlife. I’ll have to wait and go into my favorite make-up in another post. That’s another routine in and of itself. No joke.

Hello 6:45am dirty hair Monday Morning Molly. Seriously, it’s a wonder i’m still single y’all 😉

Yep, I sit on my floor with a mirror, my blanket, and Pandora playing when I put on my make-up.

And then I go to work all day. Again, #adultlife.

4:00pm

By the time I get home it’s usually somewhere in the 4:00 hour and immediately after I change out of my work clothes my make-up comes off!!! Ha. I try to wear make-up as little as possible and if I don’t have to, then I won’t. I just feel like it’s more of a hassle than anything else. I use Neutrogena’s make-up removing towelettes to take most of it off.

I’m being so good to you today with all of these mirror selfies. But how would you really know that’s what I do without me showing you?? You wouldn’t! So there…you’re welcome for the horrified (and horrible) mirror selfie 😉

5:00pm

Somewhere between 4:30-5:30 i’ll go do some sort of exercising. This past month, I’ve been sitting through my 2 hour morning class and directly go to my office all day long. When I get home I just want to be up and moving because i’m so tired of sitting.  So between yoga, a work-out in my garage, a run, or a walk I try to get out and sweat.

 

I personally believe that sweat is beauty!

#amentothat!

6:30pm

After I work out, I either jump in our pool or walk around our street to cool down before I come back inside. And that’s when i’ll take my shower. I don’t want to sit around in my sweat. Besides that I like to wash my face as soon as possible. You know, to clear my pores and keep my skin healthy.

I’m a night shower-er. I don’t do well in the mornings…one time in late elementary or early middle school I tried taking a shower in the morning and fell asleep IN THE SHOWER. Jeez, I can see People’s headline now “World’s Hottest Female Falls Asleep In The Shower”. No? You’re not feelin’ it? Well, I’m pretty sure that was the last time I did that whole morning showering thing. Showering at night saves me some extra minutes of sleep in the morning. (YES TO THAT!) And I like feeling clean in my bed at night. If you’re wondering about which products I use on my hair when i’m showering, click here and read that post.

6:45pm

Directly after I get out of the shower I put my Rogaine and Moroccan Oil in my hair. And then towel dry my hair. It looks a little something like this when i’m done…

…minus the sad face. This picture was taken a while ago and I don’t remember what that was for. I’ll apply moisturizer to my face and lotion on my skin. And then the rest of the night I can get dinner, watch tv, write, do homework, etc. That’s it. Then i’m done!

As for normal ol’ maintenance:

I usually get my hair done/cut/trimmed every 2 months. I used to go 6 months or so but learned that it’s a good thing to get your hair done every once in a while 😉

I’ve gotten a facial before and really didn’t see the purpose of it. I wanted to do it just so I could see what it was about, but I wouldn’t spend the money on that again. If you’re thinking of a facial – spend your money on a massage instead!!

I’ll usually get my eyebrows waxed whenever they need to be. Around 2 weeks (thank goodness I don’t do that myself, then my routine would be A LOT longer!). Notice: no make-up. That’s right, my friends! No wonder i’m cheesin’ hard.

…but most importantly, my momma always tells me that “happiness comes from within.” I feel like the best advice anyone can be given about a beauty routine is to just be happy and do what makes you happy. Then you will be beautiful!!!

I think you’re all beautiful…in the most non-cheesy and serious way!

Favorite Things Party: Summer Shoe

Today it’s all about our favorite summer shoe for this month’s favorite things party. Link-up with Andrea and Erika, and let’s talk summer shoes!

I don’t have just a single favorite summer shoe, because my favorite shoe really depends on the circumstances, you know where I am going or what i’m doing.

During the day…it’s usually a pair of heels, because I go straight to work from class.

When i’m home exercising…it’s my favorite pair of ASICS.

When i’m going out to lunch – like my friend’s birthday, going to an event – like Morgan’s senior day, or getting slightly dressed up – like a wedding…it’s a pair of wedges. This white pair is almost always my go-to. I can wear them with anything, they make a normal ol’ pair of shorts pop, and they work all year ’round!

…but this is my other go-to pair (I got them a couple years ago, so I don’t have a link!). And my go-to girl. Hehe, love my Ems.

If i’m running errands and know I won’t be trying on any clothes, i’ll usually go for a more sturdy pair of shoes. Now, these aren’t real converse, this is Target’s brand. Let’s be real, I’m a college student still having to pay tuition, so this pair of grey sneakers was exactly up my alley. I wanted the look, but to not spend the money ($20 compared to $50, i’ll save whatever I can). And hey! People still talked to me when I wore these shoes!!! 🙂 I’m planning on ordering more colors….right…..now!

….but what I normally throw on in the summer time is this. Just a normal pair of flip flops. Flip flops are seasonal, so I definitely get my use out of them in the Spring and Summer. In fact, this is a picture I took running errands on Friday.

Speaking of running errands on Friday, I stepped in Target to see what kind of selection they had. I almost always get like 4 pairs of shoes from there every season. And right now they are doing buy one, get one 50% off shoes, clothing and accessories. Flip flops were of course my first stop. And this brown pair caught my eye. They were comfortable, easy to throw on, and will match any outfit.

Since it was buy one, get on 50% off I tried on another pair…this floral pink was so festive. I was a fan of these shoes for sure.

After that I went snooping around the other aisles and found this pair of heels. Go figure – another floral pink. I guess that’s my thing for shoes this summer. After trying these on I came to the conclusion that the heel was a little higher than I normally like…however, if you don’t mind a higher heel I really think these would be perfect for spring and summer. They make a statement, but they are subtle at the same time.

I’m all about white for the summer (if you can’t already tell) and really liked this pair when I saw them on the shelf. They are super easy to throw on if you don’t want to waste time messing around with a buckle or strap. You know, sometimes you just want a pair of shoes that will sit downstairs for you to throw on if you’ve got to run somewhere quickly! They come in a cognac color, too and probably would have come home with me had I not realized…

…I have this pair of white sandals waiting for me in my closet. That I wear a lot. Unfortunately, I got them a couple years ago so I can’t link to it, but this shirt is one of my favorite shirts that I have in my closet. This picture was taken during a casual Friday at the office 🙂

But my verrrrrrrrrry favorite pair that I found on my trip?? This pair of sandals.

I mean…how stinkin’ cute right? I bought this pair in a 6 last summer because I wanted them so bad. I tried making them work, but they were just too small so I had to take them back. I went to 4 different Targets within reasonable distance from me and stiiilllll couldn’t find them. Now that they’re back and in my size THEY ARE MINE!

And for fun? A sweet summer scarf on clearance for $10.48. That’s what i’m talkin’ about!

After looking around on Target’s website, I realized they have exclusive online only brands. WHAT?! WHY DIDN’T ANY OF YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS…WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE FRIENDS! If you want, you can shop that here! (this is where most of my Saturday went!! Ha)

In case you missed some of my other favorite things…
Favorite Things at Target
Favorite Nail Polish
Favorite Accessory
Favorite Hair Products

Have a Happy Monday…wear some cute shoes today!

This post contains affiliate links, which just means clicking on a link may result in compensation for the blog author. As always, thank you all for reading and supporting my blog. XOXO

Own It

This morning i’m linking up with Christina at The New Mrs. for her pretty new “Own It” series.

I feel like I could go to town on things that i’d own….but i’m not going to share them ALL today. I’ll leave you waiting for more 😉 Hahah!

There’s this thing where I really like baby food. Like for a while mom would buy me baby peaches and Morgan baby bananas….a year ago. Which reminds me: I was going to host a “favorite things” party this past Holiday season for everyone to fill a bag of their favorite things and we would do a swap. One of the items in my bag was baby peaches.

Within the past couple of years i’ve somehow caught the I-have-a-hard-time-sleeping bug and sleep very little. Soooo.. when I can’t sleep at night I turn on “Sleepytime Tunes (Children’s) Radio” from Pandora. Word for word that’s what it’s called. And it’s weird. But it weirdly helps my mind relax and go to sleep.

Speaking of sleeping….I sleep in my bed MAYBE 50% of the time. I’ve been found sleeping on the floor next to my bed, the couch upstairs, the couch downstairs, the guest room, my mom’s bed when dad is gone (sorry dad!). It’s not the fact that I sleep walk or anything like that, it’s just that because I do have such a hard time sleeping when I can, i’ll sleep ANYWHERE.

I’m a clean freak/germ-a-phob to the max. I carry hand sanitizer in my yoga bag, in my purse, in my backpack, in my office drawer, everywhere. I don’t like to use the restroom downstairs in my own house. I have walk upstairs to mine if I need to go. Drinking after other people disgusts me to no end. I use my shirt to open doors to public restrooms. And Heaven forbid I use that paper liner for the toilet seat…I will only squat!!

I’m 21 years old and have absolutely no problem with still living at home. This is crazy to some people but totally normal to me! I know once I graduate college i’ll be out living on my own, but right now I enjoy the constant commotion (running mom’s errands for her), having someone to annoy when I get bored (thank goodness for little brothers), the free rent (am I right?!), the free food (my gluten free stuff gets pricey!), and everything in between. I always joke about living next door to my parents when i’m older…but there’s no doubt in my mind that I want to live no farther than an hour from my family when we’re all out on our own.

This is on my sidebar, but i’m going to say it again. You can invite me to go shopping with you at the mall and I probably will, but if someone later invites me to go to some sort of sports event i’ll probably ditch you #iknowimabadfriend 😉 There’s just something about sports that I love. Unless it’s basketball…then i’ll probably go shopping with you. Ha! Sorry basketball peeps #stillloveme

My freshman year of college at OU we took this Intro to College course (it’s really not called that but it was pointless enough it could’ve been intro to breathing)…anyways so I had to take that class. Our professor somehow got on the topic of coffee and asked everyone about their favorite coffee and I told her I hated coffee. And I was serious. I despised coffee forever and ever and ever…she told me she’d give me to the end of college to change, but I didn’t believe her. Now three years later I can’t imagine going to work or school without it.

My, my how things change! Thanks for hosting Christina…hopefully some of you can relate to a few of my own it topics.

Books (and some Netflix) in June

Like I said in my June goals on Monday, I have not been very good about reading lately…I really wish I had time during the day to read, but working kind of limits that. I mean, they won’t pay me to read…seriously?! By the time my head hits my pillow I pretty much pass out. I’m currently in the process of reading this book:

and it’s taken me a while. I was better about reading last summer. It’s crazy how different life is with “a big kid job”. I’ve noticed so many changes and differences than what my life used to be like. And I feel like it’s only going to change from here. Ready or not. Other than reading Goodbye Ed, Hello Me I’ve decided to dive into about a chapter every day of Unglued while i’m doing my Quiet Time.

I started Unglued about a month ago, but never finished it. I decided that I wanted to finish it, so what better way than incorporating it into my quiet time after reading through my Bible every morning?

Although I haven’t been reading…i’ve been watching Netflix while I work on some other things. Several movies that I want to show you…

One (mid)night in the car I was driving with Rick and he asked me if I had seen God’s Not Dead. I had heard of the movie and saw the sign sitting outside of the theaters, but didn’t actually know what it was about. I asked him if he watched it and he said he did and that he liked it. Well, I started it as soon as we got home and probably would have finished it had I not fallen asleep. So I finished it the next day. And was a huge fan of this movie!!! I’d highly recommend it. It challenged me in my personal relationship with Christ and i’ve found myself thinking about it since then.

Then, I saw this on my recommended movies or something like that on Netflix. My mom and I actually bought this movie a year or so ago, but just haven’t gotten around to watching it yet. I LOVED this movie. I’m already a fan of Jana Kramer so I knew I wasn’t going to hate it. I love the story, the characters, just everything about it. You need to check it out if you have a heart 😉

And currently i’m in this movie because I saw it was a new release on Netflix. I’ll have to tell you how it is once I finish it!

So do you watch Netflix movies? Or Netflix tv shows? What recommendations do you have for me??? I can’t wait to read up on everyone else’s reading this past month.

Show and Tell: Your Yard

One of my favorite things about living at home while I finish up college is living in a house. That sounds strange, right? But living in a dorm with no room to do anything, living in a sorority house that you can’t decorate your way, and living in an apartment gives you limited options with everything…you really appreciate a house. And not just any house – your house.  You can decorate it how you want, organize it how you want, and make your yard how you want. To be honest, whenever I pull up to someone’s house, my first impression is based off of how the yard looks.

Now I can’t take credit for anything here – that’s all my dad’s work! But he’s done a darn good job keeping our yard looking nice.

I tried to take a panoramic of our front yard, but I wasn’t very good at it. With all the rain we got recently we’ve never seen the trees, and grass, and plants so green around here!

This right here is more of what we are used to…minus the snow. But the browner/lighter grass is typical for Texas.

But my favorite part of our outdoor area/yard? The backyard!! And specifically our pool area.

When our house was built we had this big ol’ open yard and a swing set. I remember when my parents were considering putting a pool in I begged and begged them to buy a trampoline instead and that it would keep us cool in the summertime too! In hindsight, parents are right little kids are wrong. Ha! I’m so glad they decided to get the pool and not the trampoline.

Many memories made in this house have included the pool. I love hanging out in our backyard. I also love stepping out onto our top balcony (one of my newfound favorite places) and seeing this view of our pool and can hear the waterfall…so peaceful.

It’s still pretty in rain….

…with sunshine doing yoga…

…or with snow.

When I look to left of our pool from the patio – this is what I see. My mom grew up on a farm and when one of her relatives died we went to go through the house to see what kind of old treasures we could find. My mom could not part with this pig crate. Yep, you read that right. We brought home a pig crate. My dad put it up one summer with planted vines (or something next to it) that have grown so much. It adds some character to our backyard for sure.

Our newest addition is this garden dad planted recently. We always have herbs growing in our backyard – Basil, Cilantro, Chives, etc. Recently, within the last couple of years we’ve started planting more in our backyard.

And this year we have cucumbers, tomatoes, and lots of other veggies that dad has been bringing in…that’s if he doesn’t eat it before he walks it inside!

What’s worked for our yard:

My dad is out in the yard if not every day, then almost every day! The boys usually come out and help. On the weekends, they are absolutely out there!

Dad stopped mowing the lawn years ago and I asked him if he would teach me so I could (hahah!!) he declined, so we have a service mow our lawn.

Hand-watering our vegetables are “garden area” almost daily has helped to keep everything green and growing.

I love spending time outside and in our yard. It makes our house feel more like home.

 

Show and Tell Tuesdays: When I Grow Up

“When I grow up I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies….” (Anyone else catch that throwback?!) I seriously always think of that song when ever someone says “When I Grow Up”. Today with Andrea it’s all about what we wanted to be when we grow up. And to be honest {perk of only being 21} I can still be what I want to be when I grow up! Heck, I feel like we all can still be whatever we wanted to be when we grew up no matter our age.

When someone thinks of me, I want them to think of a genuine love for the elderly. Because that’s totally going to be my legacy. For as long as I remember (probably middle school) I have just had a heart for the elderly. I have no idea why or how it even came about.

– I would always be the friend that sat downstairs talking to everyone else’s grandparents.
– My first internship was at a Senior Living center. In fact, they brought in a belly dancer on Father’s Day and volunteered  me up on stage to belly dance for the senior citizens. Yes, ma’am!!
– I volunteered/hung out with the residents at my grandma’s assisted living facility when i’d visit her in the summer.
– My friends tag me or send me anything regarding the elderly. Stories, videos, etc.
-I’ll strike up a conversation with an elderly stranger if I can.
-I hate, hate, hate seeing them sit alone at restaurants. It always makes me think of my grandpa having to sit alone and I can’t stand it!

If you see a stranger randomly talking to your mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/whoever, chances are it’s probably me. And don’t worry i’m not a threat! 😉

You know, I love that I have that “fire in my soul” as they call it. It’s not the normal child’s wanting to be a vet, or a model, or a professional athlete, or whatever it may be. The majority of the 21 year olds I know tell me “old people smell” or “I can’t stand my grandparents”. And it truly hurts my heart. Most people are disgusted and annoyed by the elderly. I understand we all aren’t suppose to have the same passions in life, but it breaks my heart into a million pieces when I see an elderly man or woman being mistreated.

My grandpa and I are besties – even though we live 12 hours apart. We talked on the phone every Sunday when I was at OU. Now that he has wifi and my cousin’s iPad we are able to FaceTime him whenever we want. So technically I see him every week now!!!

 My grandma was so special to me. And I miss her every day.

I hope and pray that when I have kids they love my parents as much as I know my parents will love them. I always tell my mom if I had one wish in the world it would be to meet my dad’s dad and my mom’s mom…because they both died when I was too young to even know my name. I just don’t think it’s right that we all don’t get to meet our grandparents!!! Again, I know, not your average 21 year old’s one wish. 🙂

So….When I grow up I want to own/run a retirement community.

I don’t know what that will look like, how it will look, or any of the details. But I know that’s all in God’s hands and right now i’m taking all the necessary steps to get me there some day.

I can’t wait to see what everyone else wanted to be & if you all are doing that right now!! Happy Tuesday!

Favorite Things Party: Hair Products

I always know when this post comes around with Andrea and Erika it’s the last week of the month. I mean, seriously, May flew by!!! It’s almost June. That means i’ve been done with Spring semester for a month now. Why does summer go so fast 😦

I really wasn’t planning on posting today. I wanted to spend the weekend not on my computer and hanging out with my friends and family, but I remembered today’s post was the favorite hair products and knew I had to join in. So instead of taking today off, i’m taking tomorrow off.

When I was younger I never really cared about hair products. I shampooed, conditioned, and was done for the day week. It was great. However, now that i’m older i’m realizing that I have to start taking care of my hair. It’s just another perk of this whole getting older thing. You have to start caring about and taking care of yourself. A crazy concept 😉

When picking out shampoo and conditioner I always went for the cheapest, smell goodest (yes, I just created this word) stuff. Or most of the time mom would just get it and i’d end up with Pantene. And it worked!

My list of favorite hair products is going to be a little different than your average persons. Thank you balding genetics. And thank you health issues.

So all 7 left to right…

1. Prescription Shampoo

I’m not going to go into too much detail about this one because obviously it’s a prescription from my dermatologist. So, I don’t have ideas for y’all about shampoo because I have to use this certain kind. And it does NOT smell good 😦

2. Tigi’s Catwalk Hair Spray

I have no idea how or why we started getting this hair spray, but it is the absolute BEST. It smells awesome. I have another hair spray that I use, but it’s super sticky (if that makes sense) that it’s almost impossible for me to brush through my hair at the end of the night. This hair spray does it’s thing, but it’s not impossible to work with afterwards. This product is often times fought over between the females in our house!

3. Suave’s Detangler

I don’t use the detangler all the time, however when I do need it…this stuff is great.

5. Rogaine

I’m sure this little product is different than your list as well. My dermatologist told me to use this along with my prescription shampoo for maximum hair re-growth. I would definitely ask your dermatologist first any of you who are wanting to use this. However, I have seen results. And women can totally use men’s rogaine!

6. Moroccan Oil

When I first started losing my hair mom read something about Moroccan Oil being a good product and suggested I try it, but the first time I got the little travel size because it’s not the cheapest thing and I wanted to make sure I liked it. Well, that tiny little travel size was gone within weeks. I love the smell of Moroccan Oil (If you can’t tell, i’m all about the smell.) and to be honest i’m not really sure what it actually does I just like to put it in my hair. Ha!

7. Beyond the Zone Flat Iron Protection

When I was on Acutane (I know. I’m a mess.) my hair was super, super dry. This was also my first semester at OU and I was constantly curling or straightening my hair. I went to cut my hair and the hair dresser asked if I was using a heat protectant. I did in high school, but I stopped because I didn’t understand it’s purpose. Now I tell everyone to use heat protectant! You need, need, need to use this on your hair! This is my favorite or Sally’s Beauty Supplies generic brand is also a good one.

7. Pureology – Conditioner and Shine Max

So because I have to use such dehydrating products on my hair – prescription shampoo and rogaine – my hair stylist recommended that I get a hydrating conditioner. I had used pureology when I was younger and remembered really liking it, so when she suggested I purchase pureology I didn’t hesitate a bit. I love pureology. It really does hydrate my hair and make it a lot more silky while smelling minty and leaving that clean feeling on my hair.

As for the ShineMax, I don’t use that all the time, but when I do want a little shine in my hair I put a little bit on my hair and it adds a little shine…hence it’s name 🙂

Happy Memorial Day! Here’s to hoping your hair looks fabulous this wonderful holiday 🙂